CHAPTER XXXII.
Good Lady Margaret Langley had seen troublous days, and was wellfitted by a strong understanding to deal with them; but one of theadvantages of misfortune, if I may use so strange a phrase, is, thatexperience of danger suggests precautions which long prosperity knowsnot how to take, even in the moment of the greatest need. As soon asshe had left the Earl of Beverley, instead of going direct to the partof the house where she heard the voices of her unwished-for visiters,she directed her steps through sundry long and intricate passages,which ultimately led her to a small door communicating with thegarden, smiling as she did so at distinguishing the fierce growl ofher good dog Basto in the hall, and the querulous tone of an old mancalling loudly for some one to remove the hound, showing apparentlythat some visiting justice was kept at bay by that good sentinel.Passing through the garden and round by the path across the lawn, LadyMargaret approached the windows of her own withdrawing-room, just as aparty, consisting of five militia-men with the parliamentary justiceof Beverley, entered the chamber in haste; and she heard the justicedemand in a sharp tone, addressing Miss Walton and Arrah Neil--
"Who are you, young women? What are your names?"
The old lady hurried in, to stop anything like an imprudent reply; butshe had the satisfaction of hearing her niece answer--
"Nay, sir; methinks it is for us to ask who are you, and what bringsyou hither in such rude and intrusive guise."
"Well said, my sweet Annie!" thought Lady Margaret; but enteringquickly she presented herself before the justice, whom she knew,exclaiming--
"Ha, Master Shortcoat! good morning to you. What brings you hither?and who are these men in buff and bandolier? I am not fond of seeingsuch in my house. We had trouble enough with them or their like, a fewnights ago."
"Ay, lady, that is what brings us," replied the justice. "I haveorders from Hull to inquire into that affair, and to search your housefor the bloody-minded malignants here concealed, who slaughtered likelambs a number of godly men even within sight of your door, and thentook refuge in Langley Hall. I must search, lady--I must search."
"Search, if you will, from the cellars to the garret," replied LadyMargaret; "but the story told me by those who did take refuge here wasvery different, Master Shortcoat. They said that, peaceably passingalong the country, they were attacked by a body of bloody-mindedfactious villains, who slaughtered some of them, and drove the rest inhere, where finding some of their companions waiting for them, theyissued forth again to punish the knaves who had assailed them."
"It's all a lie, good woman!" exclaimed an officer of militia. "Butwho are these girls? for there was a woman amongst them."
"You are a rude companion, sirrah!" answered Lady Margaret. "Theseladies are of my own family--this one my niece, Mistress Anne Walton;and this my cousin, Mistress Arabella Langley."
"Come, come," said another, interposing; "we are wasting time, whileperhaps those we seek may be escaping. It is not women we want, butmen. Search the house, Master Justice, with all speed. I will go oneway with two or three of the men--go you another with the rest."
"Stay, stay!" said Justice Shortcoat; "you are too quick: we cannotmake due inquest if you interrupt us so. Lady, I require to know whowere the persons in your house who went forth to assist the malignantson the night of Wednesday last."
"Why, I have told you already, Master Shortcoat. You must be hard ofhearing. Did I not say they were friends of theirs who were waitinghere for them? In these times, when subjects are governors andservants masters, how can I keep out any one who chooses to come in?That very night one of the men swam the moat, and let down thedrawbridge for himself. How am I to stop such things? If I could, Iwould keep every party out that appeared with more than two, be theywho they might. I seek but to live a peaceable life; but you, andothers like you, break in at all hours, disturbing my quiet. Out uponyou all! Search, search where you will! You can find nothing here butmyself and my own people."
"Well, we will search, lady," replied the officer of militia who hadspoken before. "Come, worshipful Master Shortcoat--let us not wastemore time;" and seizing him by the arm, he dragged rather than led himaway.
The moment he was gone, Lady Margaret whispered in Annie Walton's ear,"Quick, Annie! run to the room where all the maidens sit, and tellthem, if asked what mean the clothes in the earl's chamber and theblood upon them, to say that they are those of one who was killed theother night, and that the body was carried away by his comrades. Iwill go to the men's hall and to the kitchen, and do the same. Youhear, sweet Arrah? such must be our tale;" and away the old lady went.But she found the task of communicating this hint somewhat moredifficult than she had expected, for the hall was half full of theparliamentary militia, and she had to send her servants to differentparts of the house, one upon one pretence, and another upon another,before she could find the opportunity of speaking with them inprivate.
In the mean while she heard with a smile the feet of the justice andhis companions running through all the rooms and passages of thiswide, rambling pile of building, except those which, separated fromthe rest by stone partitions, and forming a sort of house within thehouse, could only be discovered either by one already acquainted withsome of the several entrances, or by the line and rule of thearchitect. She had just done instructing her servants, not havingomitted, as she thought, one of the household, when feet were hearddescending the principal stairs, and the perquisitions were commencedin that wing of the hall in which the room inhabited by the Earl ofBeverley was situated.
In a few minutes the justice and one of the militia-men returned,carrying a cloak and a heavy riding-boot, and demanding with atriumphant laugh, "Where is he to whom these belong?"
"In the grave, probably," replied Lady Margaret, with perfectcomposure. "If you are authorized to take possession of dead men'sproperty, you may keep them; and indeed you have a better right tothem than I have, for your people shot him, so that you have only todivide the spoil."
"Do you mean to say, Lady Margaret, that the man is dead?" askedJustice Shortcoat, with a look of some surprise and consternation.
"All the better if he be," exclaimed the officer of militia; "'tis butone malignant the less in the world. But let us hear more, worshipfulMaster Shortcoat. I don't believe this story. Let us have in theservants one by one----"
"Ay, one by one," said the justice, who was one of the men whomay be called Echoes, and who repeat other men's ideas in a veryself-satisfied tone. "You see about it, sir, and ensure that there beno collusion."
The whole matter was soon arranged; and Lady Margaret, taking herwonted chair, drew an embroidery-frame towards her, through which shepassed the needle to and fro with the utmost calmness, while sweetAnnie Walton sat with a beating heart beside Arrah Neil, who, with thetranquil fortitude that had now come over her, watched the proceedingsof the intruders as if she had been a mere spectator. The magistrateplaced himself pompously at the table in the midst; the officer, whohad now been joined by two companions with various other articles fromthe earl's chamber, stood at Master Shortcoat's right hand to prompthim; and then the servants were called in singly, and asked to whomthe clothes belonged which had been found.
"To the gentleman who was killed," replied the man, William, who wasfirst examined.
"And where is the corpse?" demanded the officer of militia.
"I do not know," replied the servant; "they took it away with them."
"Was he killed at once, or did he die here?" asked the officer
"He lingered a little, I believe," answered William.
The justice looked at the officer, and the latter said, "You may go;see him through the hall, Watson."
Another and another servant was called, and all gave the same answerstill they came to the maids, who had not been so well or fullyinstructed by fair Annie Walton as the men had been by her aunt. Theirfirst reply, indeed, was the same--that he was dead; but when theywere interrogated as to the time of his death, they hes
itated andstumbled a little; but they were generally girls of good sense, andcontrived to get out of the scrape by saying that they did not know,as they had not seen him till he was dead; and all agreed that thecorpse had been taken away.
At length, however, at the last, appeared the scullion; and LadyMargaret's face for the first time showed some anxiety, as the girlhad not been in the kitchen when she visited it, and, to say truth,had been hearing some sweet words from a soldier in the court. Whenthe usual first question was asked her, namely, whom the clothesbelonged to, she replied--
"To the gentleman who was brought in wounded."
"And who died shortly after," said Lady Margaret, fixing her eyes uponher.
"Do not venture to prompt her, lady," said the officer, turningsternly towards her. "Speak, girl, and tell truth. Did he die?"
"I never heard as he died," answered the scullion.
"Do you know where he is now?" asked the justice.
"No, that I don't," replied the girl. "I have not seen him to-day."
Both judge and officer gazed at her with a frowning brow, anddemanded, one after the other--
"Did you see him yesterday?"
Poor Annie Walton's heart fluttered as if it would have broken throughher side; but the girl, after a moment's consideration, replied,somewhat confusedly--
"I don't know as I did."
"Then, when did you see him last?" inquired the militia-man.
"I can't tell," answered the scullion. "I don't justly know. I saw himthe night he was brought in, for the men laid him down on the floorthere, and I saw him through the door chink, just where Basto islying."
She pointed to the dog as she spoke, and he, with whom she was by nomeans a favourite, started up with a sharp growl and rushed towardsher. He was checked by his mistress's voice, however; but the girl,uttering a terrified shriek, ran out of the room, and the officerswith the justice laid their heads together over the table, conversingfor some minutes in a low tone.
At length the worshipful magistrate raised his eyes, and turning toLady Margaret he said--
"Madam, it is clear that this is a very dark and mysterious affair;and any one can see with half an eye that you have given shelter andcomfort to notorious malignants. It is, therefore, my unpleasant dutyto quarter upon you a guard of twenty men, under this worshipfulgentleman, who will take what means he may think proper fordiscovering the dark practices which clearly have occurred here."
"In this dark clear case, sir," replied Lady Margaret, with a stiffand haughty air, "will it not be better to furnish them with a generalwarrant? Its having been pronounced illegal will be no obstacle withthose who set all law at defiance. As to quartering those men upon awidow lady, I care little about it, so that I do not see them. Keepthem away from the apartments of my family, and you may put them whereyou like. If they come near me, I will drive them forth with thatfeather broom. Away with you all, and keep out of my sight,wheresoever you bestow yourselves. Or do you intend to spoil theEgyptians, and take my beef and beer, or my goods and chattels?"
"Though you are uncivil to us, lady," said the officer, who, perhaps,thought that the comfort of his quarters might depend upon fair words,"we do not intend to be uncivil to you. We will give you no trouble solong as you and your people comport yourselves properly; and in thetrust that you will do so, I shall now retire, and fix the rooms formy men as I shall judge expedient, of course not interfering with youraccommodation. Come, Master Shortcoat."
"Stay, sir!" said Lady Margaret. "You speak well. Perhaps I was toowarm; but all these intrusions into a peaceable household do heat one.I will see that you have all that you want and can desire; I wish toshow you no inhospitality," and she bowed with graceful dignity as theRoundhead party retired.